Sacred Paws, Ela Orleans and Current Affairs at Mono, Glasgow, 27 January 2017

January 28, 2017 in blog, Erika Sella, events, Andrew R. Hill, music review, review

Summer comes to Glasgow on a chilly January night. Mono's packed and there's a buzz in the air. Current Affairs (formerly Seconds) have a touch of the goff about them, in look and sound (think Banshees, The Cure, Joy Division, The Smiths, Magazine) but the determined grind of their rhythm section gets the blood going and they've melodies in spades. It's a compelling start to a flawless evening of live music.

Instead of taking us down the infernal paths she has followed of late, Ela Orleans opts to take a detour through especially hypnotic deep cuts from her back catalogue, bringing to mind a more ethereal Suicide and hints of later Coil at points. It's no mystery why Orleans has become a key figure in the Glasgow scene in recent years, the journeys she takes you on are never anything less than transportive, even when the set is deliberately more low-key than usual.

They crowd are really raring to go now and they aren't disappointed. Two versions of Sacred Paws play tonight, alternately -the core guitar, drums and dual vocals of Rachel Aggs and Eilidh Rodgers, and a special five-piece version with additional guitar, bass and keyboards (provided by Lewis Cook of Happy Meals). Both are brilliant. You can hear their previous band Golden Grrrls in the sound, with a heavy dash of The Raincoats (who they played a few gigs with last year) and West African highlife. It's a heady mix, and just what we all need right now. What happens in Mono tonight is a coming together of people, and their respective genders, sexualities, colours, ages and countries of origin are inconsequential. They're together, in this amazingly uplifting music. This gig is the anti-Trump, the anti-May, the anti-Brexit. There's no anger in it, grins abound. It's how things should be all the time. And it proves it's possible. And it's pretty easy, at that. A night worth remembering, in more ways than one.

Sacred Paws' debut album Strike a Match is out now on Rock Action.

Photos by Erika Sella. Text by Andrew R. Hill.

Dispatch: Field Music, Glasgow School of Art

March 15, 2016 in Andrew R. Hill, music, Erika Sella, blog, photography

Since 2004, Field Music have been busy lads - the core of the brothers Brewis (David and Peter) has produced five albums, a soundtrack, a covers album, a dozen singles and two albums with side projects apiece. As soon as you hear a new Field Music song, you know it's them, but that doesn't mean they've become stale or dull - far from it, in fact, as Sunday's gig at the Art School proved. Purveyors of complexly structured artpop they may be but this was no chin-stroking, egg-headed exercise in pomposity. This was funky and sweaty, if taut and intelligent with it. The brothers and their assembled touring band played a broad selection from their back catalogue, numerous cuts from their excellent new album Commontime included, and exuded a quiet confidence looking like they were having a lot of fun - almost as much as the (rather vocal) audience. The band is doing the rounds now, miss them at your peril.

Photos by Erika Sella. Words by Andrew R. Hill.

Exclusive photo: 'A Scene In Between: Tripping Through the Fashions of UK Indie Music' by Sam Knee

September 25, 2013 in blog, music, books, interview

Next month sees the release of a very special book indeed, Sam Knee's A Scene In Between: Tripping Through the Fashions of UK Indie Music. If anything 'book' seems barely an adequate descriptor, it's a labour of love, a precious document - something like that. Blasted will have an interview with Mr Knee up on the site within the next week, but until then we've got an exclusive (never before seen) photo of the Shop Assistants to whet your appetite. Cheers Sam!

*The Shop Assistants, 1985. Photo by Martin Whitehead. Courtesy of Sam Knee.*